His Chance Her Chance
by The Phoenix Spirit
Summary: A series of chances for Peeta to impress Katniss and for Katniss to accept Peeta's love. "No relationship that he's in can last that long. I have to interfere. I care too much. She's been through too much already. I have to show her I'm the one"
1. Chapter 1

*The love that I have for her is unbelievable. I just can't get over her. I see her walking the streets with him. I know they go to the forest. I wanna be romantic with her. I want her to know that I want her. The baker. He's what she wants. I'm what she needs. What's gunna happen when the next girl comes and steals him away from her? It'll happen. No relationship that he's in can last that long. I have to interfere. I care too much. She's been through too much already. I have to show her I'm the one*

As I walk down the street I see her. She's in The Hob alone. Her braid is coming loose, and she has a glow to her that I can see anywhere. I know it's sweat but it's pretty cute. Her lips are dry and her skin is pale for her olive completion. This is what the cold bitter winter in 12 does to us. She looks normal. She looks like nothing has happened and nothing will happen. Her face isn't emotional. Shes not happy. Shes not sad.

I wanna walk over. She remembers me. I gave her bread for her family a while ago. Whenever we're in school I look at her. She looks at me. Then we both turn like nothing happens. Like that day never happened. I remember it like it was five minutes ago. I wonder if she does to. It was a cold spring morning. It was a few weeks after her father died. I heard my mom yelling so I went outside to see what was happening. She was yelling at Katniss for looking into our trash. I just stood still. My blue eyes were piercing her brown. We both just look at each other. Then she shook her head at me like, it was ok. I went back in and the bread was burnt. My mom slapped me in the face for it. I started to cry but I quickly composed myself cause I knew what I was gunna do with the bread. As soon as my mom left, I walked over to her. My check bloody and all, I handed it to her, and then ran inside before my mom would see. I dream about it sometimes. I dream about what I should have done. Maybe I should have stolen money from the jar at the bakery and bought her food. Maybe I should have let her come inside. No, my mom would have had a breakdown. But, no matter. Now it's just me and her in this room… and Greasy Sae but she never really counts for much. This is my chance to really extend a friendship.

"Hi, wucha eating?" Shit. That was stupid.

"Oh just some soup", she says indifferently. Egh I guess it's worth a shot to talk about game and stuff she likes.

"Oh what game?"

"Groosling". After she answers we stay just sitting for a while. Then she gets up to leave.

"Are you walking back to the Seam?" FUCK that was even more dumb. Do seam kids like it when you call the Seam the Seam?

"Yeah" she says again with a lack of enthusiasm.

"Mind if I walk with you, I'm on the way?"

"Sure", she says less than thrilled.

We leave The Hob. She's covered more than I am. I only have a sweater. She has a thick leather jacket that hugs her body. The cold breeze makes her hair flow wildly leaving the braid it was in. She doesn't fix it. We walk for about 5 minutes without talking then she speaks. It was the most awkward five minutes of my life.

"So Peeta, how have things been lately?" Shes starting conversation. Now is my time to be funny, but not look stupid.

"Still living, what about you". I stop and take her wrist checking her pulse. I know it's risky. But, to my surprise and delight she laughs.

"Yep. Unless im a zombie vampire", she chuckles. I love her laugh. I haven't heard it before. It sound so warm and inviting coming out of such a fragile body. "So is the wrestling team doing well?"

Hey she knows im on the team. I wonder if she knows how good I am. "Great we just won against 11 a couple of days ago. How is school going for you?"

"Great. History is a bore though. No one wants to hear about it."

"Yeah you're defiantly right. Do u like math?"

"I love it. It helps me with my archery."

"It helps me with my baking." Ok time for the impossible. I take a break between sentences, and she looks at me. "Do you wanna maybe do math homework together sometime?" Im met by a smile and my heart feels like is boiling hot. I hope she doesn't notice how much im sweating. She shrugs her shoulders.

"Sure, but my math homework is in the woods hunting. You in? I could use an extra hand?"

Ok now HERE is the impossible. I have to say it. "Would Gale mind if I came?" Mother fucking Snow. I shouldn't have said it. Her smile turned into her indifferent blocked off from the world face again.

"Uhm no he won't be there." she says timidly. Im happy he won't but I won't dare smile. I feel bad for her. Maybe something happened. I try to get the happy mood back again as we reach my place.

"So when do you wanna go hunting?"

"SHHH! You live in peacekeeper central. The place is crawling with them do you want me to get killed!" I felt like my heart stopped. Then I just mutter the words.

"Sorry".

"Meet me at 5:30 in the morning near the meadow at school." Then she ran off. I felt hopeful and hopeless at the same time. But I had a "date" with her. Well she probably doesn't think that. She just needs an extra hand. We'll for now I'll be that.


	2. Chapter 2

* If I fuck this up I'm gunna be so mad at myself. I know how nervous I get when I start cursing to myself in my head. Hopefully I wont drop a fuck or something when I'm with her. This could be my chance. My chance to impress her. But how do I impress her? She knows more then me. I can be the strong man she needs. It's cold. I can be the warmth. I'm gunna bring food. That's what I'm gunna do. I'm gunna bring warm bread, and cheese, and rolls. Trust me, my family won't miss them.*

As I walk to the school I'm carrying three sacks full of food for the day. I'm wearing a new sweater my dad got me and one of my brother's old jackets that still look new. I even have red scarf I got for my birthday on me. My hat is dark blue. My mom said it makes my blond hair and blue eyes pop. Whatever that means. I swear sometimes she reminds me of Effie Trinket. She thinks I'm spending the day at Delly's house. I don't wanna know what she would think about me spending the day with Katniss.

Geez. I don't think I'll be eating any of this food. I had no breakfast cause my stomach is in knots. Every time I walk I feel like my stomach wants to fly out of me. I'm so nervous. It's 5:15. She should be here soon .The wait is so agonizing. I try to think about other things like frosting or dough. But I can't help but think she isn't coming. Every random passerby I see I think is her. I smile and then they look at me like I'm a creep. Oh shit I really am a creep. I'm smiling at strangers. I didn't get enough sleep last night. I was to nervous for today. At 7:28 I'm beginning to think she isn't coming. I get sweaty underneath my clothing and I just wanna pull it off. But, then again my stomach isn't as toned as I would like it to be at the moment so maybe not.

At 7:30 on the button I see her coming through the meadow. She has snow boots on and the same leather jacket she wore the last time I saw her.

"Ready to go?" she says with a smile. My heart melts. She's in a good mood again.

"Yep!" Fuck that was dumb. Say nothing loud. Don't wanna get arrested. She doesn't react to my loudness this time though. We climb through this whole in the fence. No electricity at all. It was a bit odd. We ran into the woods. This is the first time I've ever been in the woods outside of apple picking. I decided to tell her that.

"Oh, don't worry I'll keep you safe and sound." She said cheerfully. It seems like the only time she's happy is when she's in the woods or talking about hunting. The trees get larger and more intimidating.

"Yeah well I hope these shadows don't kill my light" I say playfully. About 40 minutes into our walk we stop for breakfast. I make a spread of bread still warm with orange jam and apples. We have apple cider and cinnamon sticks too. My nerves are gone. I can eat. She eats it up so quickly. I know she doesn't eat like she should.

"No bread to hunt down in the forest", she says half way through inhaling bread.

"Oh, well anytime just come down to the bakery. We can have lunch and it's my family's bakery so my guests don't pay." Fuck. Is she gunna think I think she's poor.

"I like that" she says with a giggle. Phew. Close one. "Now it's time to do some hunting."

She takes out a bow and a bunch of arrows from a hollow tree. Together we look for our first prey. She teaches me how to throw a rock. Now I know throwing rocks can be easy but not the way she wanted me to do it. She wanted me to aim it at the preys head. That was a little harsh but I love how assertive she was with it. I have to admit it turned me on a little how rough and tough she was being. I wanted her to get rough with me. At one point I messed up and she yelled "You big blond dumb ass!" but she said it as a joke. It made me feel happy inside. We hunted rabbits, and ducks near the lake. We killed squirrels and other birds I had no clue existed until now. We even picked up berries. I had this one blood red berry in my hand. I got scared shitless when Katniss slapped it out of my hand so fast I thought my fingers under my gloves were bleeding.

"Those are nightlock." she said calmly.

"And?" Yeah, I have no clue.

"You will die if you eat them." she said flatly/

"Oh. Yeah that was stupid of me then." It really was.

"It's ok. You're learning. I'm gunna need a new partner." Wait what? Am I just here to be her partner? Is she taking advantage of m? No. No she isn't. Wait Gale is her partner. And the second I think of it I see her smile turn into a frown.

"Of course I'll be your hunting partner but what happened?" she looks almost humiliated.

"Gale cheated on me with the mayor's daughter." Can't say I didn't see that happening.

"What? That's horrible. That... That bastard." She looked almost offended I said that. Shit. "Sorry".

"Don't be sorry and I agree with you. The only thing that has me keeping him is my family. We both need each other. He hunts for mine and I hunt for his. One or two of these rabbits will go to him. U can have the ones you killed with the rock. I'll keep some. The rest I sell for money. The money is split between my family and the Hawthorne's. It's an agreement we came to years ago. I won't break it just because he cheated on me. His family needs me to much." I'm so moved by her will. By her power and her loyalty. She's willing to do that. I wonder if I have the type of golden heart she has. I manage to just say a sentence.

"You're doing the right thing." I just wanna reassure her.

"Thanks. Can we eat lunch now? I'm gunna cook one of our squirrels. Help me build a fire." She shows me how to do it. We gather material. We shovel snow. Then I take two branches and suddenly I feel her warm breath on my neck. She puts her arms around me for a few seconds showing me how to rub the wood together to make a spark. It was the best few seconds of my life. I guess it wasn't for her though. It didn't seem to make a difference to her. We eat a lunch of rabbit sandwiches with more apples. I give her the rest of the bread to take home. I don't make it look like a charity case though. I tell her my mom wil look at me weird if I come home with half cold bread and cheese. Oh weird we never ate the cheese. She takes the food and thanks me. It really isn't a charity case though. My mom would think that. And, I want her family to eat. I can be Gale to. But I'm not doing this for her heart. I generally feel for the girl. Later on we do more hunting then walk home.

The walk seems shorter then I would like it to be. I want to just keep talking to her. We talk more about school, and the woods. She tells me about the time she feel from a tree I couldn't help but laugh and she did too. Actually, we had to stop walking because we were laughing to hard. It was getting dark when we made it back to the gate. From the gate she walks me to my house. The nerves that I once had this morning are now back. Should I hug her? Of course I'm not gunna kiss her. But before I can even think of anything she leaves me with a –

"Ok, well thank you so much. Maybe next week again. I'll see you around." Then she runs off. No hug. No kiss. No shaking hands. I feel accomplished though. Were friends. Well it is boy FRIEND. If I can't be her friend I can't be her boyfriend. I enjoy being her friend. It's like I can just sit there and talk to her for hours. She makes me feel warm inside.


	3. Chapter 3

*Winter break is great really. I get to stay home and bake for a month. Today I made all kinds of bread and cakes. I have so much extra. I'm gunna give a few cakes and pies to Katniss. Wait here's this whole charity thing. I don't want her to think that. I'll make her trade me something for it. Hopefully she won't be offended.*

Today I'm gunna go hunt with Katniss again. If it's anything like the last time I should be excited. The nerves that were in my stomach last week are lighter this time. I ate a full breakfast and now im ready to just enjoy the day with my friend. No stress.

Of course the "no stress" thing doesn't go over so well. As I walk closer to the gate I see Gale standing with Katniss. He looks at me like he wants me gone from Panem. It's awkward for sure but I put a smile on my face. When I get there I introduce myself and shake his hand. He gives me a handshake that's almost too hard. Katniss looks more tense than usual.

"Ok, let's go", she says nervously. We walk for a few minutes in silence until Katniss picks up a conversation with the 2 of us.

"Gale you were on the wrestling team a few years ago right?"

"Yeah. I was pretty fucking good too." He gives me a condescending look. I look interested.

"Nice. Did the team place?" I ask.

"Ahh. No. Some kid on the team got beat so we lost."

"That sucks", Katniss adds in almost too cheerfully. We settle down for breakfast. My second breakfast. I make my spread and Katniss and Gale eat. I munch on an apple. Gale doesn't talk while he eats. Katniss and I start conversing about The Hunger Games.

"I know the kids that got called last year," she says. "They were my neighbors. They got axed right at the cornucopia. Sad. By Careers." As she's talking I see Gale grow more tense while eating.

"That's horrible. I admit I try not to watch the games but it's everywhere. The peacekeepers brought in a television and made my parents show the games in the bakery. It sucked. Who wants to eat while watching people starve?" That must have been it for Gale. He slammed the bread he was eating on the floor but I pretend not to notice. Katniss pays him no mind.

"I watch it with my mom. It always seems to be one of us Seam kids. The ones in your area don't need tessera like us." The ones in my area? I hope she doesn't think im a snobby rich kid. "But you're lucky. I'm never jealous of money because I know people are born into it. It's no one's fault," she adds. I feel like she added that last line in for Gale to hear.

"Yeah well just about every single snob in 12 pisses me the fuck off" Gale chimes in. Oh shit. I hope he's not trying to start a fight. "Do you ever go and feed the people who starve in 12?" I wanna say yes I do but I don't. We all need to support ourselves. That's not fair, especially in 12 where people can barely have ends meet. I don't answer. He's really pissing me off though. I can't stand this fucking asshole right now. Katniss looks a bit angry.

"It's not his fault," she snaps "He was born into a bakery."

"Well he should thank his mother for giving birth to him". Ok were not gunna be talking about my mother.

" Let's leave my mother out of this" I say more forcefully then I should of.

He stands up. "What the fuck do you think? You think you can come here with a basket of food and steal Katniss away. I've known her since she was fucking born! You think your money can buy her?"

" Gale Stop!" Katniss says. She starts to talk to him in his ear. He shoves her away. That's enough no one is gunna touch her.

"Lay off her she didn't do anything to you! If you know her so much you should treat her a bit better," I say. I get up. No one is gunna make me look like a punk.

"Oh yeah. What are you gunna do about it fagot?" He gets nose to nose with me. Right after I think he's gunna do it and punch me I hear buzzing.

"Tracker Jackers!" Katniss yells. We all start running. MY heart is racing. I've heard about these little shits before. They kill. We keep running. I start thinking about what a dick Gale is to her. How can you just shove a woman like that? How can you treat a person who is supposed to be your girlfriend so bad? What the fuck is wrong with this kid?

I feel one buzz next to my ear. That sets me into overdrive. I sprint my ass off. Gale and Katniss both follow my lead. I can't run this long. It looks like Gale is having no problem though. I see he tries to hold Katniss hand as they run. She pushes it away. Good girl. We get to the gate and split up. Gale stands next to the gate and Katniss and I duck behind trees on different sides of the gate. I count them out. 5 tracker jackers. They look like floating acorns. There so huge for bugs. Katniss looks so tired.

"Gale gets behind a tree!" she shrieks. He ducks under the gate and runs.

"PUSSY!" I shout as loud as possible. He responds giving the finger while he runs home. " Throw snow at them!"

I don't know where I got that idea from. But, we do. I throw mounds and mounds of snowballs. So does she. They start dodging but we get them. We do it until there all buried.

I stand up. "Rest in peace." I giggle. It was forced but just trying to make things light.

"You were great Peeta. I would have never thought of the snow and with the whole Gale thing I'm so sorry. He's a hothead sometimes but he means nothing. He's just jealous of your part of 12. This is what he does. He gets mad and then he roughs me up a bit" Her voice cracks. " I told you he wouldn't be with us but when I gave some squirrels to his mom she asked who my new partner is. She's so nice I just told her a friend was helping me. He got so mad he pushed me to the floor and screamed at me." Her last words are barely hearable.

I can't believe what im hearing. He abuses her. I run over to her. Shes still on the ground and she's crying. I sit down with her and hug her. This should feel like I wanna make a move but right now im just trying to comfort her. She cries on my chest for about 10 more minutes. Finally she gets up and we walk back. My arm is still around her. We walk in silence. We get back to the place we set up. We collect all of our stuff. It's midmorning. We do hunting and fishing like last time. The day gets happier and we talk more about baking, hunting, and school. Thank God no more Hunger Games talk. No more Gale talk. But I still think about him in the back of my head. I bet she does to. Only I think about him in anger. I wonder if she does to. As the day finishes I give her the rest of the leftovers I baked. Before she takes it I hold it above her head.

"I want 2 squirrels." I say with a smile on my face.

She shrugs, and giggles. " You got it". We walk back to my house.

"Thank you for everything" she says. She hugs me again. This time I have a warm feeling in my gut. It last for around 10 seconds. Then she does something I never thought she would do. She kisses me. I feel like my lips are going to explode. I am so happy. I almost have to stop the kiss cause I keep smiling. I don't know if the kiss lasted a few seconds or a few hours. Im in a trance. Im in the warmest place I've ever been except standing outside during the winter night. She finally pulls back. Then she whispers. " I don't wanna be with him anymore. But I was doing it for my mom but not anymore. I want you. Do you want me?"

What is she kidding? " Yea. I definitely do". I pull her in for another kiss and this time I open my mouth. She opens hers it's a great feeling. After a minute she stops again.

"You're to good to me", she says with a smile on her face. "See you again next week?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way" She runs off. I feel like someone just made my dreams come true. And she did. She kissed me. She wants to be with me. No him. I love her. I want her and need her. Now I have her. Still it's bittersweet. As I turn to walk into my house I'm jumped by Gale and his friends.


	4. Chapter 4

I felt my knee give in. I'm on the floor. The ice cold floor. My hands get tied by a wire. I feel a warm sticky liquid sliding down my wrist. I'm bleeding its barbed wire.

Gale comes over to me. He must have gotten a few of his goons from school to help him. He punches me in the eye. Thank God I had enough sense to close my

eye. It was the most pain I think I've ever been in. But, not for long cause then I feel a crunch in my mouth. He jabbed me with a wooden stick. My tooth is

cracked. The blood is dripping down my mouth and im starting to choke on it. I try to spit out the tooth and it hits Gale in the face. This only makes him madder.

His friends make me stand up. They pin me against the wall. My wrists still tied in barb wire. Here the real beating happened. He punched my guts in. At one point

I started to puke but I just choked on my own vomit. Once he saw I was choking he stopped for a second. After I caught my breath he got out scissors. I'm barely

conscious at this point but I can see the shiny object. This sets me into overdrive. I realize my feet are fine. I kick him in the balls. He goes down hard. While hes

screaming in pain his friends start kneeing me in the gut. One of them aims for my balls but I block it with my barbed wired wrist. That sends him into a frenzy as

he starts bleeding. The other kid takes his hat off. It's Rory. Gale's brother. The kid on the ground I kicked must be Thom.

I'm so shocked to see Rory, someone I thought was nothing like his brother, attack me that I forgot Gale was getting back to his feet. He grabs my neck and

chokes me. At that point I go unconscious.

I wake up in the woods in the sunlight. My vision is foggy but I see the faces of Katniss, Delly, and Madge. The mayor's daughter.


	5. Chapter 5

I adjust my eyesight and try to sit up but Delly gently pulls me back down.

"You're weak" she says with a sad smile on her face.

"That idiot!" Katniss yells. She goes off with her bow. I figure she's gunna go hunt. Madge puts a pillow underneath my head. It smells like the capitol, not that I've been there before.

"What happened? I told your mom you slept over my house. My parents are visiting friends so I got away with it. Your mom didn't think anything of it. What the fuck happened?" Damn, Delly only curses when she's seriously mad. I told her everything that happened. I told her where they hit me. I told her who hit me. I told her what hurt me. Madge seems like a natural born healer. She stitched up all my cuts and she disinfected them with leaves.

"I've been hanging around Prim too much" she says lightly.

"How did you guys find me?" I ask.

Madge responds. "I was going to walk over to Katniss at night and I saw what was happening to you. I didn't wanna call the peacekeepers because they would just punish everybody for no reason. But, I scared them away cause they knew who I was", she says forcefully. I like this about her. She's never used the whole mayor's daughter thing to her advantage before. Thankfully, she chose a good time.

"She was great!" Delly says. "I heard her yelling up a storm from my house, so that's when I came out."

"She jumped all over Thom" Madge puts in. We all start laughing. I stop after I realize my ribs hurt like a bitch.

"I bought you over to my house and then before my parents went home Madge lead me to this spot in the woods" Delly says. "You were conscious limping a little but falling to sleep."

"Then I went to get Katniss. Right now she's doing her daily hunting" Madge adds. Weird I didn't know Katniss hunts every day. I wonder if Gale hunted with her on the weekdays. Madge continues, "She went over to Gale's house and spoke to him. At the end of the conversation he was missing a tooth. Katniss told me Gale visited his mom to stitch up his gums. Gale never told her mom what happened. She told us he said it was about time you learn not to mess with his woman and blah blah blah. But Rory apologized after Katniss shoved him on the ground for coming to Gale's defense. Don

"Don't worry Peeta it will all blow over. We're gunna have a nice day in the woods. Delly is gunna walk you home before dark and tell your mom that you got hurt in wrestling practice."

There was no wrestling practice today but that works. Wow. Katniss really punched him in the face. For me. She must really care. I don't blame her. I love her. I treat her right. He's an ignorant Effieass. I feel a draft on my head. I reach for my hair and it's not there.

"They cut off some of your hair" Delly says. "Nothing a hat can't cover." She puts a big cotton red hat on my head. I feel warmer. Those bastards.

"Great" I manage to say. "Well let's not stay in agony over my injuries. Let's have a good day in the woods. I'll talk to Katniss later."


	6. Chapter 6

"Peeta, Im so sorry for what happened. I just wanna move past this."

"I completely agree Katniss. I tried not to push his buttons. I didn't do anything wrong."

"It's not your fault at all. It's mine."

"Why?"

"We had a big argument one day and I told him I was pregnant with your baby." I have no words. She is the one responsible. Why would she do that? Is she that dumb? My feet start walking before I tell them to. My back turns away from her. I can hear her calling my name but I limp home. She was a chance I should have never taken.


End file.
